I. The Governor’s Confession

“Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government.”

That’s not me saying that. That’s Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, in 2025, admitting what most politicians won’t.

A sitting governor just acknowledged that homeownership as we know it is an illusion. You might have signed a deed. You might have paid off your mortgage. You might think you “own” your home. But try not paying your property tax for a year or two and see what happens. The government seizes your house, sells it at auction, and keeps the proceeds. Just like a landlord evicting a tenant.

If you can lose your home for not paying an annual fee, do you really own it? Or are you just renting it from the government with extra steps?

You might lose your job. You might face unexpected medical bills. You might fall behind on payments. Life happens. And when it does, the government doesn’t care that you’ve been paying property tax for twenty years. Miss two years and it’s gone.

Why do we accept paying perpetual rent on something we supposedly own? Why does the government have the power to seize your home if you don’t pay them annually? And why does every politician promise to fix it, but nothing ever changes?

Let’s dig into history. Because this story starts with a medieval king, crosses the Atlantic with colonists, gets preserved by the Founding Fathers despite their revolutionary rhetoric, and persists today because too many people profit from it.

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II. The Feudal Origins: How Medieval Kings Started This

1066: William the Conqueror Invents Property Tax

The year is 1066. William the Conqueror invades England and establishes the feudal system. Here’s how it worked:

The king owns ALL the land. Every square inch. He then divides it among his loyal supporters: lords, knights, vassals. But here’s the catch: they don’t own it. They rent it from the king.

Payment came in various forms: money, crops, military service, or labor. This was called feudal tenure. The land was held with ongoing obligations to a superior. Miss your payment? The king evicts you. Probably kills you too.

Property tax is the direct descendant of feudal rent. Medieval tax assessors used property ownership to gauge “ability to pay” tribute to the crown. The principle was simple: you never truly “own” land. You lease it from the crown in exchange for perpetual payments.

This system was documented in the Domesday Book (1086), William the Conqueror’s comprehensive survey of England’s landholdings and taxable assets. English common law throughout the 11th-14th centuries formalized feudal tenure as the standard form of land ownership. The king granted land to nobles, who granted it to knights, who granted it to peasants. At every level, perpetual payment was required to maintain the holding.

Centuries later, colonists would bring this system across the Atlantic.

Modern Ownership: Fee Simple

Today, most American property is held in something called fee simple, which is supposedly the “highest form of ownership” in modern law. You can sell your property, pass it to heirs, and use it as you wish.

Sounds better than feudal tenure, right?

Except for one problem: if you stop paying property tax, the government takes it. Just like a feudal lord evicting a tenant who stopped paying rent.

Fee simple solved the inheritance and transfer problems of feudal tenure. You can sell your land without the king’s permission. You can will it to your children. But the core feature of feudalism, perpetual payment or forfeiture, remained intact.

III. Colonial America: The System Crosses the Atlantic

1607: The Feudal System Sails to Jamestown

In 1607, English colonists arrived at Jamestown. They thought they were escaping the Old World’s restrictions. They weren’t. King James ensured the feudal system traveled with them.

All colonial land was held in “free and common socage,” a form of feudal tenure. Colonists weren’t escaping feudalism. They were just changing which monarch they paid rent to.

1634: The First American Property Tax

The first property tax in America appeared in 1634 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They taxed land, livestock, and tangible assets to fund defense, roads, and town administration. The colonists didn’t invent this system. They imported it directly from Europe.

By the Revolutionary War era, the thirteen colonies had “well-developed tax systems” that funded the war effort. Taxation sparked “heated debate and some violence.” (Sound familiar?)

The debate: Should property be taxed by acreage (which farmers said was unfair) or by assessed value? The value-based system won. Tax rates increased “several fold” during the war to fund military operations.

IV. The Founding Fathers’ Hypocrisy

The Revolution Against Feudalism… That Kept Feudalism

The Founding Fathers spoke frequently about abolishing feudal systems. They fought British taxation as tyranny. They declared all men created equal. They established a republic free from monarchical control.

Then they kept property tax.

Why?

Because they needed the money.

The Illusion of Allodial Title

After the Revolution, states passed laws declaring that American land would be held in allodial title, supposedly owned “free and clear” with no obligations to a superior. Pennsylvania enacted such a law in 1780, declaring land in the Commonwealth to be allodial.

Americans celebrated. Finally, true ownership. No more feudal rent.

Then came the debt crisis. The Revolutionary War left the federal government owing $54 million and the thirteen states collectively owing $25 million. Foreign creditors and domestic bondholders demanded payment. States needed revenue desperately.

Pennsylvania enacted property tax legislation in 1785. This was a separate law, passed five years after declaring land allodial. It directly undermined the promise of allodial ownership by imposing annual tax obligations.

Massachusetts raised property taxes by sixty percent to pay war debts. Farmers who fought in the Revolution suddenly couldn’t afford the new taxes. Many lost their land. This sparked Shays’s Rebellion (1786-1787), an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers against the tax collectors.

The rebellion was crushed. The taxes remained. The allodial promise was hollow.

The Constitutional Framework

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reserves all powers not delegated to the federal government to the states. Since the Constitution doesn’t grant the federal government authority over property taxation (except in specific circumstances), that power resides with the states.

State legislatures simply claimed the authority to tax property. No higher authority granted it. Courts upheld it. And once established, the system became constitutionally protected through precedent.

By the mid-1800s, property tax was the principal revenue source for all states. Fourteen of fifteen states taxed land by 1796. What started as “temporary” Revolutionary War funding became the foundation of American local government finance.

The Test: Who Really Owns Your Home?

Here’s how you find out if you truly own your property:

Modern Scale: The System Entrenched

Today, property tax provides 72% of local government revenue in the United States. That’s $886 billion collected annually.

You “own” your home the way a medieval serf “owned” his hut. As long as you pay rent to your superior, you can stay. Stop paying, and you’re out.

The Founding Fathers abolished feudalism in name. They kept it in practice. We’re living with that decision.

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V. Modern Political Theater: Nothing Ever Changes

Fast forward to 2025. Politicians from both parties promise property tax relief. Occasionally, one delivers. But the system never fundamentally changes. Let’s look at two recent examples.

Trump Actually Delivered (This Time)

In 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which capped the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction at $10,000. SALT includes property taxes. The cap hit homeowners in high-tax states like California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois the hardest.

During his 2024 campaign, Trump promised to fix the problem he’d created. He proposed raising the SALT cap to $40,000.

On July 4, 2025, he signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. The SALT cap increased to $40,000, delivering real tax relief to millions of homeowners.

Credit where it’s due: Trump actually followed through. High-tax-state homeowners can now deduct more of their property tax burden from federal taxes. It doesn’t eliminate property tax, but it reduces the pain.

DeSantis’s Battle Continues

Meanwhile in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has been waging a more ambitious campaign: eliminating property taxes entirely.

In 2025, DeSantis proposed $1,000 property tax rebates for 5.1 million Florida homeowners as a first step. His long-term goal: a 2026 ballot initiative to eliminate property taxes and replace the revenue with sales taxes on tourists. His reasoning: “I don’t want to give Canadians a tax cut.”

A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab survey (November 2025, 728 likely voters) showed 49% support for elimination, 46% opposition, and 5% undecided. Nearly half of Florida voters are ready to end property tax.

Who Opposes Elimination?

So why hasn’t it happened yet? Who’s fighting against it?

To replace property tax revenue entirely, Florida’s sales tax would need to increase from 6% to roughly 14%. Losing $43 billion in annual revenue would require massive restructuring.

These aren’t small interests. This is a deeply entrenched system with powerful defenders who depend on the revenue stream continuing.

Let’s follow the money…

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VI. Who Benefits? Follow the Money

The Property Tax System Feeds Itself

$886 billion annually.

That’s how much local governments collect in property taxes every year in the United States. To understand why the system never changes, you need to understand who depends on that money continuing to flow.

Beneficiary #1: Public Schools

36% of all public school funding comes from property taxes. For many school districts, it’s the primary revenue source.

But here’s where it gets ugly: this creates massive inequality. Rich neighborhoods have high property values, which generate high tax revenue, which funds great schools. Those great schools increase property values further, generating even more tax revenue. It’s a self-reinforcing cycle.

Poor neighborhoods have low property values, low tax revenue, underfunded schools. Bad schools depress property values, reducing tax revenue, making schools worse. Another self-reinforcing cycle, but in the opposite direction.

Beneficiary #2: Local Governments

Property taxes provide 72% of local government revenue nationwide. That funds police, fire departments, roads, parks, libraries, sanitation, and infrastructure.

Local governments are addicted to this revenue stream. It’s stable, predictable, and grows automatically as property values increase. Politicians can fund services without raising tax rates. Just wait for property values to rise, and tax revenue rises with them.

Beneficiary #3: Private Investors (The Scandal)

This is where the system crosses from “unfair taxation” into “legalized theft.”

Meet Geraldine Tyler. She was an elderly woman in Minnesota who owned a one-bedroom condo. She fell behind on property taxes and owed $15,000 (including interest and penalties).

Hennepin County seized her condo. They sold it at auction for $40,000. Then they kept all $40,000.

Geraldine lost $25,000 in equity, more than her entire debt. The county took her home, sold it, pocketed the surplus, and gave her nothing.

Home Equity Theft: The Practice

As of 2023, twelve states allowed this practice, called “home equity theft.” Here’s how it worked:

Private investors loved this. They’d acquire properties for pennies on the dollar in tax debt, foreclose, sell at market value, and pocket the difference. It was legal theft backed by government authority.

The Scale of the Theft

8,500+ homes were foreclosed under home equity theft laws between 2014-2021 in the twelve states that allowed it. In Massachusetts alone, $56 million was stolen from homeowners in a single year.

Some states charged 16% interest on tax debt. Some investors deliberately avoided sending bills to homeowners, letting the debt accumulate until foreclosure became profitable.

The Supreme Court Finally Steps In

In 2023, Geraldine Tyler’s case reached the Supreme Court: Tyler v. Hennepin County.

The ruling was unanimous: 9-0. The Court held that taking property worth more than the debt owed violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The government may not take more from a taxpayer than what is owed.

Justice Roberts wrote: “The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but no more.”

It was a landmark victory for property rights. Home equity theft was declared unconstitutional.

But here’s the catch: the private tax lien industry still exists. Investors still buy tax liens from governments. They still charge high interest rates. They still foreclose on properties. They just can’t keep the surplus anymore (in theory, since enforcement varies by state).

The system adapted. The profiteering continues in modified form.

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VII. The Legal Challenges That Go Nowhere

Constitutional Arguments That Work

You can successfully challenge property tax in court, but only on narrow procedural grounds:

Constitutional Arguments That Don’t Work

VIII. The Path to True Ownership: What Works and What Doesn’t

What Nevada Actually Did (1998-2005): Prepaid Property Tax

In 1997, Nevada passed Senate Bill 403, creating what they called an “allodial title” program. It went into effect July 1, 1998.

The Catch: It Wasn’t True Allodial Title

Nevada’s program was prepaid property tax, not true allodial title. Homeowners paid a lump sum, and the state created a trust fund that continues paying property taxes on their behalf. Those properties are still subject to property tax. The homeowner just doesn’t pay it directly anymore.

It worked exactly as designed until 2005, when the Legislature shut down new applications. Existing certificates are still valid.

The Constitutional Weapon No One Has Fired: Arkansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Three states have constitutional provisions that explicitly declare land allodial and prohibit feudal tenures:

Why This Matters

These aren’t aspirational statements. These are state constitutional mandates. Property tax is feudal rent, which means it’s a feudal tenure. These constitutions explicitly prohibit it.

Why Hasn’t Anyone Used This?

To make these provisions meaningful, someone would need to:

1. Own property free and clear in AR, MN, or WI
2. File a lawsuit in state court arguing property tax violates the state constitution
3. Win at trial court level
4. Survive government appeals
5. Get a binding state supreme court ruling

The Path Forward: Building Parallel Systems

Here’s the reality: you don’t need permission from the system to stop participating in it.

DeSantis was right: “Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government.”

The question isn’t “how do I minimize my rent?” The question is “why am I paying rent on land I supposedly own?”

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IX. Your Next Steps: Choose Your Path

Path 1: Be the Revolutionary (Direct Confrontation)

Path 2: Exit the System (Strategic Withdrawal)

Path 3: Accept Feudal Rent (Submission)

X. Conclusion: Government Created This Problem

We started with Governor Ron DeSantis admitting what most politicians won’t: “Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government.”

Then we traced that system back nearly a thousand years. To William the Conqueror in 1066, establishing feudal tenure where the king owned all land and everyone else paid perpetual rent. To colonial America in 1634, where the Massachusetts Bay Colony imported that system across the Atlantic. To the Founding Fathers, who spoke of abolishing feudalism but kept property tax “because they needed the money.”

The problem isn’t this politician or that policy. The problem is the structure itself.

The Founders’ Irony

The Founding Fathers abolished feudalism in name. They kept it in practice. They needed the revenue to pay war debts. State legislatures claimed the authority. Courts upheld it.

Now we live with that decision, paying annual tribute to maintain possession of land we supposedly “own.”

Final Observation

Next time someone congratulates you on “owning” your home, remember what this investigation found:

William the Conqueror instituted feudal rent in 1066. Government maintains it in 2025. True allodial title, sovereign land ownership with zero obligations, does not currently exist in practice in the United States.

The evidence suggests government won’t voluntarily give up this revenue stream. The question each individual faces: accept it, minimize exposure to it, or challenge it through whatever legal means they’re willing to risk.

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